On July 4th, 2006, I embarked on a quest to become the pre-eminent American portrait painter of the 21st century. This blog chronicles that journey. With apologies to Joan Didion, I call it THE YEAR OF MAGICAL PAINTING.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

It's 1:25 pm...

It's almost one-thirty and I'm just pulling myself together.

Actually that's not quite right. I mean, I've read the paper, abluted, gotten dressed, chopped up some apricots for my cereal, etc., But I am a bit late getting out the door and down the hill to the studio.

Much of last night was spent in a bar called the Lucky 13 Saloon. It was nice to see a jukebox that wasn't connected to the internet. Bands featured include:

Honestly, how many of these bad boys, I would ask you, do you own at home? I must admit to some passing interest in the Dropkick Murphy's, but my friend wouldn't play even one of them. One, in retrospect, wouldn't have killed her.

Do you like any of those bands?I do now. I like all of them.

Anyway, I will say this. I was literally the only man in the place (and it was packed) who wasn't wearing a black t-shirt with something like Black Sabbath or Motorhead written across the front. I use the word "literally" here in the most literal sense. Everybody, except me [white polo shirt--they must have thought I was Christ] was wearing a black t-shirt. Literally everybody. Not a single exception.

Really--everybody. Literally.

It's the kind of bar where you pull up on your Harley, step in, order a can of Pabst ($1.00 before 9 pm), and are having a pretty good time until somebody realizes that the Harley you're riding is a V-Rod, not a classic hog. Then a bunch of guys grab you by the scruff of the neck, take you outside and kick your ass. And while they're beating you into a near-death condition you can't help but savor the irony of the fact that the guy doing all the punching is wearing a Joy Division t-shirt. Black, of course.

Nonetheless, really, I can't urge you enough to drop everything and get down there, ASAP. I had the best time you could imagine.

Me, right now? I'm playing "Girls, Girls, Girls" (Motley Crue) at full volume, trying to get fired up for the studio.